Bay Area Crab Fishermen Set Back By Spill

Gov. Schwarzenegger responded to area fishermen and ordered the postponement of the Dungeness Crab fishery that was due to start this week. Fisherman and state health officials were worried about food contamination from the spill of 58,000 gallons of diesel oil from the container ship that hit the Bay Bridge.

The Governator also made some comments critical of the Coast Guard's initial emergency response to the spill. He later toned down his criticism, presumably after learning that the CG acted in a timely and professional manner. In fact, it was the Coast Guard's notification and warning to the public that was delayed. A CG spokesman has gone on record saying the reason for the delay was that the spill had been originally reported at about 140 gallons, not 58,000 gallons, as was the case. We can just imagine that when Coast Guard responders first arrived on scene, they were confronted with considerably more than they expected. As a result, communications to civil authorities might have been given secondary importance to the game of catch-up.

-seabgb